(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation diagnosis apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a radiation diagnosis apparatus including a plurality of radiation detectors for outputting signals of a single polarity.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, a radiation diagnosis apparatus employs a radiation detector for detecting a radiation. A radiation includes a gamma ray emitted when a radio isotope is changed while an atomic nucleus thereof remains stable, and an X-ray emitted when an electron collides with an object at a high speed. In this case, the radiation detector detects an emitted radiation.
A representative example of such a radiation diagnosis apparatus includes a positron emission tomography (PET) apparatus, a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) apparatus, an X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) apparatus, and the like. Of course, such radiation diagnosis apparatuses are used in all fields, such as nuclear facilities and nuclear engineering as well as medical fields, where radiations are emitted.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a radiation diagnosis apparatus according to the related art, all radiation detectors are connected to data acquisition units, respectively such that one data acquisition unit corresponds to an output of each radiation detector.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radiation diagnosis apparatus according to the related art. FIG. 1 shows only a relationship between two radiation detectors 10 and 20 and two data acquisition units 100 as an example.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, an output of a first radiation detector 10 is input to one data acquisition unit 100, and an output of a second radiation detector 20 is input to another data acquisition unit 100. Each of the data acquisition units 100 is connected to a computer for signal processing and analysis.
However, in the radiation diagnosis apparatus, since one radiation detector requires one data acquisition unit 100, data acquisition units 100 corresponding to the number of radiation detectors are necessary.
For this reason, the radiation diagnosis apparatus according to the related art has a drawback of a large volume, a heavy weight, and a high price.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.